The Mary Sue » Matt Groeninghttp://www.themarysue.com
The Nexus of Pop Culture and the Uncharted UniverseWed, 04 Mar 2015 00:00:37 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=2015.10Things We Saw Today: The Princess Who Saved Herself - Things We Saw Todayhttp://www.themarysue.com/things-we-saw-today-the-princess-who-saved-herself/
http://www.themarysue.com/things-we-saw-today-the-princess-who-saved-herself/#commentsTue, 07 May 2013 20:59:51 +0000http://www.themarysue.com/?p=88858
If Jonathan Coulton and Greg Pak's Kickstarter gets $7k more dollars, they'll make a comic for kids based on Coulton's song "The Princess Who Saved Herself," which is about a princess who convinces all the monsters that threaten her to join her rock band, as a stretch goal. I'll just leave a link to it here. (MTV Geek, Youtube, Kickstarter)
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Star Trek Into Darknesshas been moved up a day, to premiere at midnight on a Wednesday. This is not always a good thing for movies, but on the other hand, we get to find out what it means that much sooner. (The LA Times)

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/things-we-saw-today-the-princess-who-saved-herself/feed/11Days of Futurama Past: Comedy Central Ends The Show’s Run Sep. 4http://www.themarysue.com/days-of-futurama-past-comedy-central-ends-the-shows-run-sep-4/
http://www.themarysue.com/days-of-futurama-past-comedy-central-ends-the-shows-run-sep-4/#commentsMon, 22 Apr 2013 19:30:35 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=148990Futurama has been cancelled before, but it looks like this time it might really, truly be over. Comedy Central has decided not to order any more episodes of the show, and will just it march slowly to its death on September 4th as it closes out its seventh season. The news will no doubt upset fans, but the show's executive producer David X. Cohen isn't surprised.]]>

Futurama has been cancelled before, but it looks like this time it might really, truly be over. Comedy Central has decided not to order any more episodes of the show, and will just it march slowly to its death on September 4th as it closes out its seventh season. The news will no doubt upset fans, but the show’s executive producer David X. Cohen isn’t surprised.

Older fans may remember a time when Futurama ran at various time slots on Fox before being put out to pasture in reruns on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. The show managed to do well enough in reruns to be revived in the form of four direct-to-DVD movies that were picked up by Comedy Central as a de facto fifth season. That fifth season did well enough for Comedy Central to order a sixth and seventh, but they haven’t done well enough to warrant an eighth.

Futurama was a show that got a lot of second chances, so Cohen isn’t particularly shaken. He said:

I felt like we were already in the bonus round on these last couple of seasons, so I can’t say I was devastated by the news. It was what I had expected two years earlier. At this point I keep a suitcase by my office door so I can be cancelled at a moment’s notice.

The executive vice president of programming at Comedy Central Dave Bernath said the show’s had “a helluva run that few shows achieve.” He’s choosing to look at this optimistically by pointing out that the network managed to give the show 52 more episodes than it would have had otherwise, and calls Futurama’s comeback a blessing.

Show creator Matt Groening also seems optimistic about the show’s final 13 episodes which will begin airing this June. He also said that he has more stories to tell in the 31st century, but that if the show needs to end, the episode currently slated to be the series finale is “an epic ending.”

Groening and Cohen haven’t completely ruled out another revival of the show, but they’re going to wait and see how fans react to the news and weigh their options. At the moment, though, there are no serious talks to bring the show to another network.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/days-of-futurama-past-comedy-central-ends-the-shows-run-sep-4/feed/6Actually, The Simpsons Does Not Take Place in Oregon - Never Mindhttp://www.themarysue.com/the-simpsons-does-not-take-place-in-oregon/
http://www.themarysue.com/the-simpsons-does-not-take-place-in-oregon/#commentsFri, 13 Apr 2012 20:18:03 +0000http://www.themarysue.com/?p=43036
Hey, remember that time earlier this week when Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, said that the town of Springfield, where the show takes place, is located in Oregon? It was an announcement that dispelled over two decades of speculation as to where this generic-sounding town was in these United States. Well, you can forget about it -- Groening says he's been misquoted, and The Simpsons does not take place in Springfield, Oregon. But I hope Portlandia does a sketch about this anyway.]]>

Hey, remember that time earlier this week when Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, said that the town of Springfield, where the show takes place, is located in Oregon? It was an announcement that dispelled over two decades of speculation as to where this generic-sounding town was in these United States. Well, you can forget about it — Groening says he’s been misquoted, and The Simpsons does not take place in Springfield, Oregon. But I hope Portlandia does a sketch about this anyway.

On Tuesday, Groening did an interview with Smithsonian Magazine in which he mentions that his inspiration for the fictional town of Springfield came from a town of the same name next to his hometown of Portland, Oregon. He went on to add that whenever someone would ask him which Springfield the Simpsons were from — there are Springfields in most of the 50 states, including Massachusetts, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Michigan — he’d just say “Yes!”:

I don’t want to ruin it for people, you know? Whenever people say it’s Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, wherever, I always go, “Yup, that’s right.”

However, the quote that everyone ran with was this one:

Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show “Father Knows Best” took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, “This will be cool; everyone will think it’s their Springfield.” And they do.

And then, everyone was all “The Springfield in The Simpsons is in Oregon! Therefore, The Simpsons takes place in Oregon!” Even I was fooled, offering it up as a bonus question at trivia night on Tuesday. But alas, as Geekosystem pointed out, just because the town was named after Springfield, Oregon doesn’t mean that the show takes place there. In fact, in an exclusive interview with TV Guide, Groening said Springfield might now mean something else altogether:

“I never said Springfield was in Oregon,” Groening says. “I said Springfield was the name of my sled.”

Executive producer Al Jean says that Groening has told that very same Springfield, Oregon story for years, and that the location of The Simpsons is “an every town.” Unless you choose to believe this is all a publicity stunt:

“[T]here is no specific state that Springfield is in, and we will never reveal that secret… except this coming Sunday at 8,” he quips.

So, we’re just going to have to keep speculating. The real location of Springfield, as Groening hinted, will be the Rosebud of the long-running animated series. The world may never know…

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/the-simpsons-does-not-take-place-in-oregon/feed/5Matt Groening Reveals The Simpsons Springfield is Named After the One in Oregonhttp://www.themarysue.com/springfield-the-simpsons-oregon/
http://www.themarysue.com/springfield-the-simpsons-oregon/#commentsTue, 10 Apr 2012 21:55:13 +0000http://www.geekosystem.com/?p=94501

In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed the one and only burning question fans of the show have ever wanted to know: Where is Springfield?

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In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed the one and only burning question fans of the show have ever wanted to know: Where is Springfield?

Twenty five years later, Groening revealed that Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. He said he was inspired by the show Father Knows Best, which also took place in a town named Springfield, and it always excited him because he thought it was the Springfield next to Portland, which is his hometown. As one might’ve expected, he also stuck with the name because he found out Springfield is one of the most common names for a U.S. city, and fans will think the Simpsons’ hometown is named after their own hometown.

I don’t want to ruin it for people, you know? Whenever people say it’s Springfield, Ohio, or Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, wherever, I always go, “Yup, that’s right.”

There it is. The most burning question deep down in the souls of most modern day men and women, answered in a random interview on the Internet. Of course, simply because it was named after Oregon, one could easily say that the town isn’t actually set in Oregon, but that’s probably as close of an answer as we’ll ever get, especially considering Groening wants fans to think its their Springfield and not some other state’s.

As a fan who has watched every single Simpsons episode, including the shorts from The Tracey Ullman Show — yes, even whatever the “new, bad episodes” are that everyone likes to talk about — I kind of don’t know what to do with myself now that this question has been answered. Watch more Simpsons, I guess.

]]>http://www.themarysue.com/springfield-the-simpsons-oregon/feed/9No Money And No Simpsons Make Us Something, Something - The Boob Tubehttp://www.themarysue.com/no-money-no-simpsons/
http://www.themarysue.com/no-money-no-simpsons/#commentsTue, 04 Oct 2011 15:47:32 +0000http://www.themarysue.com/?p=22578
Go crazy? Don't mind if I do! You remember that Simpsons Tree House of Horror skit that was based on The Shining? That's kind of how I'm feeling right now. Because of arguments over money between Fox and the principle voice actors of The Simpsons, the show may soon end its 20+ year run.]]>

Go crazy? Don’t mind if I do! You remember that Simpsons Tree House of Horror skit that was based on The Shining? That’s kind of how I’m feeling right now. Because of arguments over money between Fox and the principle voice actors of The Simpsons, the show may soon end its 20+ year run.

The Daily Beast says, “Fox studio execs have occasionally threatened to replace uncooperative cast members with sound-alike actors. But for the first time in nearly a quarter century of haggling, the executives have insisted that if the cast doesn’t accept a draconian 45 percent pay cut, The Simpsons will die an abrupt death as a first-run series.”

A very interesting all-or-nothing game they’re playing isn’t it? Sort of makes you wonder if they still prize the show as much as they used to. “The ultimatum was delivered Monday evening as Fox spurned the actors’ proposal—delivered late last week—to take around a 30 percent pay cut in exchange for a tiny percentage of the show’s huge back-end profits—amounting to untold billions—from syndication of the show around the globe and merchandising of Simpsons clothing, lunchboxes, stamps, DVDs, a feature film and video games, among other paraphernalia.”

Currently, stars Dan Castellaneta (Homer, Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, and others), Julie Kavner (Marge and others), Nancy Cartwright (Bart and others), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Hank Azaria (Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon), and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, and others) make around $8 million a year for 22 weeks of work. After the proposed cut, they’d each make around $4 million. Still nothing to shake a stick at but this isn’t a cool move in any industry, least of all when the individuals have worked for you for twenty years.

“Fox is taking the position that unless they can cut the production costs really drastically, they’ll pull the plug on new shows,” said a Simpsons insider with knowledge of the negotiations. “The show has made billions in profits over the years and will continue to do so as far as the eye can see down the road. The actors are willing to take a pay cut of roughly a third, but that’s not good enough for Fox.”

Creators James L. Brooks and Matt Groening would continue to receive weighty profits through syndication and merchandise should the show end, the voice actors would not. The Simpsons certainly doesn’t pull the ratings it once did and I have to admit I don’t watch as much as I used to but this would be the end of an era. The show has been around almost my entire life, I half expected it to always be on. Perhaps we could all create our own version, the Shimpsons, that’s different enough that we wouldn’t get sued. Yes? No?

We rejoiced when we heard that Futurama might come back to TV, but now we know for sure, and we've got a date: Comedy Central will air the first of 26 new episodes of Matt Groening's sci-fi cult hit in June.]]>

We rejoiced when we heard that Futurama might come back to TV, but now we know for sure, and we’ve got a date: Comedy Central will air the first of 26 new episodes of Matt Groening‘s sci-fi cult hit in June.

Comedy Central sources confirm to HitFix that Thursday, June 24 at 10:00 p.m. is currently set to be the premiere of the first new half-hour episode of “Futurama”since 2003.

At this point, it’s obligatory to say that we hope the new episodes will be better than the well-intentioned but shakily executed Futurama DVD movies that have come out since the series was canceled in ’03. Well: we hope the new episodes will be better than the well-intentioned but shakily executed Futurama DVD movies that have come out since the series was canceled in ’03. Really: we hope they’re directed by Harold Zoid, but not everyone can achieve their lifelong dreams.